I've been transcribing - for some while now - non fatal casualties reported in The Times newspaper for 1914. I expect to complete this task this year and will then augment the data with other 1914 data.
The men listed below all served with the Bedfordshire Regiment and were all reported as having been wounded. Their names were notifed to the War Office on the 27th November 1914 and they appeared in a casualty list published in The Times on the 5th January 1915.
I publish this small sample here because it serves as useful spotlight on the British Army at this particular time. I have not anlaysed this list of wounded men in particular depth but I can tell, by looking as far as 6927 APte Arthur Mabbott, that there are a lot of men from the Special Reserve in this list. I have indicated this by noting (3rd Battalion) next to their names, although this detail does not appear in the official casualty lists.
It is important to note the difference between regular soldiers and men of the Special Reserve. Whereas the former were career soldiers, the Special Reserve were men who had enlisted for part-time soldiering only, albeit they would have known that they would be sent out as drafts to the regular battalions if they were needed. It is also important to remember that the regular 1st and 2nd Battalions adopted a completely different regimental numbering sequence to the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion. So whereas 6313 Joseph Knightley, for instance, must have enlisted as a career soldier in July 1898, 6237 Pte William Levitt and 6381 Pte J Smith had both enlisted in 1910.
Such important distinctions are not generally noted in casualty lists, although the simple addition of a 3/ prefix to the special reservists' numbers would have made it very obvious what these men's origins were and when they had enlisted.
What this list says to me though is that already, by November 1914, the Bedfordshire Regiment had suffered significant losses and had already taken in large numbers of men from the Special Reserve. These men too, were now returning back to England as wounded soldiers.
I research soldiers!
4677 Pte Arthur Worbey
5366 Sgt G Hodge
5373 Sgt E Hutchinson
6037 Pte A Mills
6108 Pte Alfred Richardson (3rd Battalion)
6137 Pte Arthur Holt (3rd Battalion)
6234 Pte S Webb
6237 Pte Roger William Levitt (3rd Battalion)
6313 Pte Joseph Knightley
6381 Pte J Smith (3rd Battalion)
6388 Pte John T Bates
6494 Pte Arthur Green
6512 Pte Albert S Fitch
6707 Pte Harry Darlow (3rd Battalion)
6712 Pte W Waller
6779 Pte A Abbott
6827 Pte Charles Harley
6849 Pte J F Randall (3rd Battalion)
6858 Pte Charles Gregory (3rd Battalion)
6916 Pte Abel Clark (3rd Battalion)
6927 Pte Arthur Mabbott (3rd Battalion)
6991 Pte G Thompson
7017 Pte B Wood
7030 Pte J Keep
7066 Pte F Gooding
7171 Pte S Evans
7174 Pte A Butler
7216 Pte F Coppin
7289 Pte W Webb
7398 Pte H Gray
7412 Pte E Carter
7451 Pte Arthur H Haile
7570 Pte J Goodwin
7612 Sgt P Chandler
7656 Pte A Turner
7730 Pte J Fensome
7936 Bandsman E Clarke
8306 Sgt P Folkard
8355 L-Sgt W Gale
8388 Bandsman E Fynn
8398 Pte W Millard
8441 Sgt C Guerin
8458 Sgt E Endersby
8469 Pte F Wright
8509 Pte E Keogh
8548 Pte F Crew
8555 Pte E H Reid
8591 Sgt G Roper
8692 Pte C Smith
8742 Pte J Marney
8812 Cpl A Smith
8841 Dmr A Pearcey
8874 Pte F Richardson
8922 Pte C J Hooper
8939 Pte I Afford
8963 Pte W Shaw
8978 Pte J Hornett
8981 Pte A Chandler
8982 Sgt F Bulley
9024 Cpl J Newby
9035 Pte J Ellis
9047 Pte F Braybrook
9074 Pte T Gardiner
9097 Pte A Jeeves
9134 Pte H Cooper
9135 Pte H Gear
9220 Pte G Webster
9231 L-Cpl H Halls
9260 Pte G Harlott
9264 Cpl W R Brown
9267 Pte Frank Bird
9278 Pte J Eccles
9294 Pte S Webb
9299 Pte A Chennells
9326 Pte W Robinson
9337 Pte Edward Boxall
9349 Pte J King
9385 Pte A Beard
9397 L-Cpl G Taylor
9419 Pte C Wright
9445 Pte E Larman
9459 Pte G Ellis
9475 L-Cpl T Sharpe
9503 Pte O Denton
9544 L-Cpl E Pepper
9581 Pte W Papworth
9594 Pte J Goodhead
9595 Pte J Sharp
9598 Cpl F Robinson
9648 Pte A Skinner
9655 Pte E Parker
9690 Pte H Osborne
9712 Pte D Lydle
9726 Pte A Gilbey
9744 Pte G Butler
9756 Pte A Tomlinson
9759 Pte S Simons
9804 Pte G Cope
9808 Pte P Clark
9819 Pte Arthur Richardson
9826 Pte S Rumbles
9837 Pte S J Folwell
9867 Pte W Mardling
9869 Pte A R Maydwell
9891 Pte A Mee
9951 Pte H Wright
9973 Pte R Franklin
10017 Pte W G Watson
10030 Pte A Woodcock
10031 Pte G Brown
10041 Pte J Reid
10042 Pte A Fitzjohn
10048 Pte W White
10081 Pte H Denton
10144 Cpl P Sandilands
10145 Pte T J Harris
10171 Pte W Austin
10188 Pte G Stringer
10374 L-Cpl T Allen
Image courtesy of The History Place
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